


it might be love

by JadenGrace1



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Gen, Keith (Voltron)-centric, Keithmas Exchange 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 17:49:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17187575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadenGrace1/pseuds/JadenGrace1
Summary: “Ready?” she asks, an adventurous twinkle in her eyes sparking something longing in his.A crooked smile tugs at the corner of his mouth, and he gestures almost sarcastically in front of him. “Lead the way, Princess.”~~~The team surprises Keith with a day filled with fun and adventure; written for @wonder-kya on tumblr for the Keithmas Secret Santa exchange





	it might be love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wonder_kya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonder_kya/gifts).



> My giftee asked for: "I wish for this Christmas that Keith is offered a surprise: to spend a beautiful day discovering new landscapes, (on Earth or another Planet), exploring all day and be in total awe. At the end of the day he'd be enjoying a nice sweet meal under the starry sky~ The ones he loves would be with him during this special day!"
> 
> I hope you like it!

Keith is thrown from slumber into wakefulness by the sudden blaring of the castle’s alarms. He vaults out of bed, blinking the sleep from his eyes as he goes, and hurries down to the bridge.  _ One day _ , he silently laments as he sprints down the castle halls.  _ The universe can’t give us just one day to take a break? _

 

Just the day before they had defended the planet they’re currently staying on from Galra attack. The fight itself hadn’t been too bad, especially once they’d formed Voltron, but it had come at the end of a long string of battles that left the team feeling spread thin. They hadn’t even needed to discuss whether or not they would spend a day on the planet recuperating or if they were going to keep chugging along — one look at each other’s tired faces and they were accepting the locals’ generous offer to rest on their planet as long as they needed.

 

However, it seemed that their rest would be short-lived.

 

Keith finally makes it to the bridge, praying to whoever would listen that Allura was just doing one of her “absolutely necessary” reaction time tests instead of there being some kind of actual emergency. If there  _ is _ some kind of attack happening, he is not going to be held liable for what he ends up doing to the enemy.

 

The doors whoosh open, and Keith finds himself alone on the bridge with Allura. In and of itself, this is not unusual. He’s typically one of the first paladins to arrive. However, what  _ is _ unusual is that Allura isn’t wearing her paladin armor. In fact, she’s not dressed in any outfit the red paladin has seen before. It almost looks like… hiking gear? A pair of dark boots reach to just a few inches above her ankles, accompanied by knee-length navy shorts and a light pink long-sleeved blouse rolled up to her elbows. As a finishing touch, she’s wearing a bright yellow sun hat with a matching ribbon tying her hair back into a long braid.

 

He comes to a stop, panting, and tries to figure out what the hell is going on.

 

“Good morning, Keith!” She greets him with a bright smile, and the enthusiasm throws him off more than anything else has so far.

 

He blinks at her. “Uh…”

 

“Sorry for the wake-up call,” she continues, not looking sorry at all, “but we wanted it to be a surprise!”

 

That… doesn’t clear things up. In fact, he’s pretty sure it just makes him more confused. He’s not sure which part of the sentence to tackle first. “Surprise? We?” He raises a skeptical eyebrow as he looks around the conspicuously empty bridge. “Where is everyone?”

 

“Oh, don’t worry,” she assures as she picks up the two packs that had been sitting on the dais and hands one to Keith, slinging the other over her shoulder. “You’ll get to see them all later.”

 

Keith is overwhelmed by the feeling of missing something, like in that split second when you reach the top of the stairs expecting there to be another step only to have your foot meet empty air. Or like that time Shiro had pranked him by moving everything in his dorm three inches to the left while he’d been in class.

 

“Allura, what’s going on?” It comes out more pleading than he means it to be, but he blames it on the faint traces of adrenaline still running through his system and the fact that less than five minutes ago he was dead asleep.

 

“Come on,” she beckons, gently grabbing his shoulder and starting to lead him away from the bridge. “It’s a surprise, remember?” She pulls a small tablet from her pocket and glances at the screen for a moment before putting it away again. “Plus,” she continues, grinning slyly at him, “we’ve got a schedule to keep.”

 

Keith sighs, resigned to bumping into a lot of metaphorical furniture, and slings the bag over his shoulder. However, he’d be a liar if he said he wasn’t curious about what this “surprise” could possibly be. Hiking the bag up a little higher on his shoulder, he quickly matches pace with Allura’s determined stride.

 

They make their way out of the castle and into the large clearing they had landed in the day before. It’s early, almost  _ too _ early for Keith’s taste — just light enough to see where they’re going, the faintest hints of sunrise teasing at the edges of the horizon. Almost.

 

Allura takes a deep breath, and Keith unconsciously mimics her, breathing in the fresh air of an atmosphere nearly identical to Earth’s when it comes to being breathable by humans. Something settles inside him, then — in the peaceful quiet of a planet that’s yet to wake. His gaze drifts over to Allura, catching on the wide, floppy brim of her hat and the way it curves like a flower waiting to bloom with the morning.

 

“Ready?” she asks, an adventurous twinkle in her eyes sparking something longing in his.

 

A crooked smile tugs at the corner of his mouth, and he gestures almost sarcastically in front of him. “Lead the way, Princess.”

 

And lead she does, out of the clearing and towards a rocky set of hills that Keith can barely make out in the near-dark. They walk to a rugged trail that looks to take a slow meandering path to the top of the tall hills surrounding the castle. Though it’s getting lighter by the minute, Keith can’t see any kind of landmark or indication of what’s supposed to be part of the surprise.

 

“What’s at the top?” he asks.

 

She gives him a smug look, one that people get when they know something that you don’t and are  _ happy _ about it. “You’ll see.”

 

Keith rolls his eyes —  _ of course _ she’s being cryptic about this, and at way too early an hour — but apparently not as discreetly as he’d hoped because Allura suddenly gives him a playful shove that sends him stumbling. “Oh, quit it. You’ll like it, I promise.”

 

She seems sincere, but Keith is nothing if not an occasional sarcastic little shit. “If you say so,” he deadpans.

 

“Well, you’re in luck since I do, in fact, say so,” quips Allura, and Keith huffs a laugh through his nose.

 

The next few minutes pass in silence, the only noise the sound of their boots crunching on the rocky trail and the local critters beginning their morning song. It reminds Keith of the early morning hikes he would take back on Earth while living in the desert — silent in the way that there were so many quiet sounds to listen to.

 

Soon they’re nearing the top of the craggy trail, and from how much lighter it’s gotten since they started their morning trek, Keith assumes that it’s nearing time for this planet’s sunrise. Allura stops, resting a gentle hand on Keith’s shoulder. Though the smile she gives him is small, he can’t help but feel the anticipation building behind it, like someone trying to keep lightning in a bottle.

 

“Ready?” she asks, the brim of her hat fluttering softly in the gentle breeze.

 

Keith gives her a half-smile in return. “Yep.” And he is ready, curiosity practically spilling out of his pores at this point.

 

A couple more minutes of walking and they eventually reach a plateau — arriving at a view that stops Keith in his tracks. Stretched before them, just beginning to twinkle in the early morning light, is an endless meadow made entirely of shining crystal.

 

“Allura, it’s—” Keith starts, looking over to thank her for such a beautiful surprise, only to realize that she’s sitting down on the flat stone resting beneath their feet. She pats the ground next to her in an invitation for Keith to sit down as well.

 

As he does, she leans over towards him, keeping her eyes on the ever-brightening horizon. “Just wait,” she breathes, her voice barely more than a whisper but still full to bursting with excitement.

 

So Keith waits, patiently, and less than thirty seconds later, the tip of a pale pink sun begins to peek over the line where earth meets sky. The light hits the crystals, and Keith’s jaw drops like an anchor at sea.

 

Slowly, like the pulling back of a curtain, the valley catches fire. Vibrant reds, yellows, and oranges seem to ignite within the crystals as the sunlight catches them. He’d thought the view was incredible before, but this is almost literally breathtaking. It’s like watching the spread of a wildfire if it were a choreographed dance — graceful and fluid without the destruction left behind — a fractal firestorm that leaves Keith awestruck.

 

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Allura sounds just as amazed as he feels.

 

All he can manage is a breathless, “Yeah.” But it’s enough.

 

Keith loses track of how long he sits there, watching the sun rise over the crystal valley, Allura a warm, quiet presence by his side. At some point, they eat the space equivalent of granola bars that Hunk had taken to preparing for the team and Allura had packed in their bags.

 

Eventually, they are interrupted by a chiming alarm emanating from Allura’s pocket. She pulls out the same tablet from before and gives it a quick swipe before putting it back and standing up, reaching a hand down to Keith.

 

“Looks like our time is up,” she says as she pulls him to his feet. “Ready for part two?”

 

Keith looks at her as they start to make their way back to the clearing and asks incredulously, “There’s a part two?” This morning had already been incredible, what else could they have planned?

 

“Oh, yes,” she replies with a smile, soft and slightly devious, “and I do believe you’re going to love it.”

 

The trek back is mostly quiet with the occasional interjection from Keith trying to get Allura to spill the beans on what “part two” could possibly entail. They make it back to the clearing where they find Coran leaning against a shuttle pod, typing away on a small tablet identical to Allura’s.

 

“Number Four!” Coran waves enthusiastically when he sees them approaching and jogs up to meet them. “You’ve had a good morning so far, I hope?”

 

“Yeah,” he nods. “It was…” He flounders for a word to describe the sight they’d seen, eventually settling on, “amazing. It was amazing.”

 

Coran pulls him in for a quick side-hug. “Good, I’m so very glad. But,” he exclaims, leaving Keith’s side to strike a dramatic pose, “the day has only just begun, my boy! Hop aboard, and we’ll make our way over to part two of the day’s activities.”

 

Coran boards the shuttle before Keith can form any kind of response.

 

“Go on, Keith,” Allura intones, and Keith turns around to face her. She holds her tablet up and wiggles it playfully. “Schedule, remember?”

 

“She’s right, my boy!” Keith twists back to see Coran’s head popping out from behind the shuttle door. “Hurry up, we don’t want to be late!” The head is gone in a flash of orange and Keith shakes his own before sending one last wave to Allura over his shoulder and making his way up the ramp.

 

As it turns out, there isn’t just a part two. There’s also a part three, four, five, etc. — each of his teammates essentially kidnapping him for a short period of time and taking him on their own personal adventure.

 

Coran shuttles him out to the heart of the planet’s capital city where they are hosting an intergalactic weapons exposition. They visit booth after booth, looking at all of the different sharp weapons the local galaxies had to offer — spears, daggers, and much to Keith’s delight, swords.  _ So many swords. _ Keith’s favorite part by far, though, is the demonstration hall. There, he and Coran sit and watch aliens from far and wide demonstrate the craftsmanship of the weapons of their homeworlds, performing incredible feats of strength, acrobatics, and precision.

 

After Coran comes Pidge, who whisks him away to a patch of forest just outside of the city where they participate in an event that’s part nature hike, part scavenger hunt, part escape room, and part search for this planet’s equivalent of cryptids. They spend their chunk of the day running around side by side, high on adrenaline and something Keith thought might be pure, unadulterated joy.

 

And much to Keith’s happy surprise, the high doesn’t stop there. Next to take him is Lance, who shuttles him off to a beautiful, violet coastline. There they rent what look to Keith like surfboards with sails attached and spend hours soaring jubilantly over the emerald waves. They lose track of how many times they race against each other over the surf and Keith can’t think of a time where he’s felt so light and so full at the same time — carefree in a way he never knew was possible.

 

As the planet’s pink sun begins to crawl it’s way back towards the horizon, Lance and Keith return to the shore, breathless and exhilarated, to find Hunk waiting there for them. The yellow paladin takes Keith back to a quiet part of the city and to a small restaurant tucked into the corner of a peaceful street. There, the owner lets Hunk and Keith have free reign of the kitchen, and they set out making a feast. The space is soon filled with the smell of alien spices and the sound of Keith’s laughter as Hunk makes terrible pun after terrible pun. Keith nearly tears up when he realizes that everything they’re making is an approximation of different Earth foods he’s mentioned missing. Time flies in the kitchen in a way it never has for Keith, and soon they’re heading back to the castle, arms filled with as much food as they can carry.

 

They meet the rest of the team in one of the observatories located in the castle’s tall spires and as they eat their delicious home cooked meal, they sit together and watch the sky celebrate the setting of the sun with a colorful sunset like Keith has never seen before, with color combinations he never knew were possible.

 

After the sun finally brings itself to rest and all that’s left against the dark canvas of the sky are the faintest hints of color, the team begins to clean up their dishes and make their way to the heart of the castle. As they’re walking through the halls, jovial chatter echoing off of the alien metal and into the cobwebbed corners of Keith’s soul, he feels a hand gently settle on his shoulder. Looking up, he finds Shiro staring at him with a soft smile and a twinkle in his dark eyes.

 

“Have a good day, kiddo?” he asks.

 

Keith is so blissfully happy that he doesn’t even balk at the nickname, just returns the smile with one of his own.

 

“I–” Keith starts before realizing, suddenly, that a lump had formed in his throat when he wasn’t paying attention and that his chest felt full to bursting. He simply nods in return and manages a croaked, “Understatement.”

 

Shiro’s smile grows to beaming, and he pulls Keith into a quick side hug before leading the red paladin down the hall.

 

They make it to the end, and instead of turning towards where the rest of the team went, Shiro leads him in the opposite direction. Keith sends him a questioning look, a single eyebrow raised, and their fearless leader’s grin turns sly.

 

“Got one more surprise for you, bud.”

 

“Oh my god,” Keith groans into his hands. “Shiro, I don’t think my emotionally stunted heart can take anything else.”

 

Shiro snorts. “Sure it can.”

 

Keith can already feel his face warming up in embarrassment. “I swear to god if you make me actually cry I’m going to steal all of your fuzzy socks and… and…” He struggles to come up with something suitably threatening. “I’ll have Lance turn them into a bunch of tiny sweaters for the mice.”

 

Keith yelps as he’s pulled into a headlock and Shiro affectionately ruffles his hair. “Whatever you say, Keith.”

 

They continue their brotherly bickering as they make their way outside and begin trekking across the clearing away from the lights of the castle. As they walk further and further into the darkness, the soft orange glow of the moon lighting their way, Keith can’t help but keep his gaze skyward, each step they take illuminating more and more twinkling stars.

 

Just as his neck begins to ache from holding it at an awkward angle, Shiro pulls him to a stop. “This oughtta be more comfortable, don’t you think?”

 

Keith finally tears his gaze away from the sky to look where Shiro is pointing and finds a massive pile of pillows and blankets he recognizes from the castle’s storerooms. Without a second thought, the dark-haired teen launches himself into the heap, ignoring the laugh he hears behind him and burrowing and rearranging until everything is to his satisfaction. He cocoons himself in a blanket nest, pillows underneath him so that he can lay back comfortably with an unobstructed view of the heavens. Shiro quietly nestles in beside him, a content silence settling over them like a gentle mist. It’s interrupted an indeterminable amount of time later, the faint rustling of feet over soft grass and quiet whispers slowly creeping closer. Keith turns his head towards the noise and sees the rest of his team slowly ambling towards them, arms filled with their own piles of pillows and blankets.

 

As they all settle around him and Shiro with muted mumbling and only a few complaints of misplaced elbows and knees, Keith feels something in his chest bloom, spreading and filling himself from head to toe. Lance’s face appears upside down above him, brows curved into a concerned frown as he whispers, “You okay, Keith?” And it’s then that Keith realizes that silent tears have started to make their way down the sides of his face.

 

“Yeah,” he whispers back — brokenly, brightly. “I really, really am.” And he knows his grin is watery, so he doesn’t say anything when Lance gets a little misty-eyed as well. Instead, he scoots himself closer to Shiro and makes just enough room for Lance to squeeze himself into the new space between Keith and Hunk.

 

And a few minutes later, when Lance latches onto his arm and excitedly points to the shooting star streaking across the sky, Keith — for the first time in his life — doesn’t feel the need to make a wish. Instead, he lays content under the stars, surrounded by his family and enveloped in a feeling he wants to cradle inside himself forever — a light in the dark.

 

He thinks it might be love.

**Author's Note:**

> Again, this is a gift for @wonder-kya and I hope I was able to write something you'll like!
> 
> I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season, and if any of you guys ever want to talk (about anything!) feel free to hit me up! I'm @jadengrace1 on tumblr/instagram and @jaden_grace1 on twitter.


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